Legend of The Swamp Witch

Deidre couldn’t believe her luck! Not only had the shopkeeper undercharged her, he had given her too much change, too! She suddenly found herself a full silver piece richer than she should be. She knew that she should return the money, but things had been so difficult since Tomas had lost his job. She made a little money washing Lady Miriam’s clothes, but it was barely enough to pay the taxes they owed. There was precious little left over for food. They hadn’t been starving, exactly, but they had missed more meals than they had eaten over the past few days.

She couldn’t wait to get home and share the good news with him! A full silver piece would buy food for a month, with enough left over to buy a chicken or two. They might get sick of eating eggs, but they wouldn’t have to go hungry ever again. She ran home, each step filled with laughter.

She burst through the door to their cottage, and the sight that greeted her chilled her blood. Tomas was in their bed, the blacksmith’s wife tangled in his arms. She dropped her basket, and the food she had just purchased fell onto the floor. With a heart filled with rage, she screamed and rushed towards him.

Tomas pushed himself off of the blacksmith’s wife, and stood to face Deidre. She swung at him wildly, cursing and spitting. He tried to block her punches as best as he could, without hurting her, but she managed to scratch him several times. He kept pushing her back, but she kept coming at him, blinded by hatred.

The blacksmith’s wife scrambled towards the door, anxious to flee the scene. Deidre kicked the woman in the stomach as she moved past, but then resumed flailing against her husband.

The blacksmith’s wife grabbed a large iron skillet and swung it with both hands. It connected with the back of Deidre’s skull, killing her instantly.

“What have you done?” asked Tomas, his voice filled with fear.

“I…I only meant to knock her down. To…to…to put her to sleep. Oh gods…why isn’t she breathing?”

“Because you’ve killed her, you stupid bitch! Get out of here! Go! Go home, and forget what happened here. You were never here. Now go!”

The blacksmith’s wife fled, heaving great sobs as she ran back to her own home.

Inside the shack, Tomas wasted no time. He wrapped Deidre’s body in an old sack, and then put the iron skillet on top of her. Then he tied the sack closed, and slung it over his shoulder. He took her down to the swamp behind their shack, and watched the body sink into the murky water.

That night, when the moon shone down on the swamp, the creature that had been Deidre screamed in rage and clawed her way out of the sack. The evil forces churned within her, giving her life beyond death and a singular purpose: revenge.

Legend says that if a woman comes to the swamp with hate in her heart and cries over a man who wronged her, the swamp witch will come and take his soul the following night.